Thunderbirds Are Go! (Again): Cult TV show is set to return as ITV commissions 26 episodes in new revamped series
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Now Thunderbirds is returning with a new TV series - 50 years after the classic programme featuring the exploits of International Rescue first went on air.
Combining CGI (computer-generated imagery) animation and live-action model sets, Thunderbirds Are Go! will broadcast on ITV in 2015.
It's back! Thunderbirds is to return in a new series after ITV commissioned 26 new episodes, to be shown in 2015
The series will "affectionately pay tribute" to the classic show, created by Gerry Anderson, who died in December at the age of 83.
Thunderbirds Are Go! will feature a "whole new level of action-adventure animation for today's audience", co-producer ITV Studios said, with the five Tracy brothers piloting their "incredible vehicles into impossible rescues across the globe".
Thunderbirds, created by Anderson and his second wife, Sylvia, was first broadcast in 1965.
Revamped: The team behind Lord of the Rings is to recreate the cult show, which first rose to fame in the 1960s
With the catchphrase "Thunderbirds are go!" and featuring the secret emergency service run by the Tracy family, aided by London agent Lady Penelope and her butler, Parker, it enjoyed a resurgence in popularity in the 1990s.
In 1966, Thunderbirds was made into a major feature film, Thunderbirds Are Go, which was followed by a sequel two years later, Thunderbird 6.
ITV Studios UK managing director Denise O Donoghue said of the new TV series: 'Thunderbirds is a highly respected brand that continues to hold recognition around the world.
Cult following: Thunderbirds Are Go! (again) thanks to a commission by ITV bosses
'This cult series is often credited as changing the history of animation and action-adventure, and we look forward to taking the show to another level while retaining the much-loved heritage that has endured over the past 50 years.'
New Zealand-based Pukeko Pictures is co-producing the TV series in collaboration with the Weta Workshop, which worked on King Kong, Avatar and Lord Of The Rings.
ITV and children's channel CiTV will broadcast the new series, in the form of 26 half-hour episodes.
Anderson, famous for the use of "supermarionation", or the use of modified puppets, was also best-known for creating TV Shows Captain Scarlet and Stingray.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2273291/Thunderbirds-set-return-ITV-commissions-revamped-series.html#ixzz2Jwzw8kuo
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